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Photo Credit:  Caleb Licata

Ransom Notes Interview with Madelyn Alt, December 2006

 

Paul Goat Allen: Madelyn, how exactly did you get into writing? And

what was the motivation behind writing a romantic, paranormal mystery?

Those kind of genre-blending books are very popular right now, and I was

wondering if the success of other authors like Laurell K. Hamilton, Charlaine

Harris, Kim Harrison, et al., had any effect on you in any way…

 

Madelyn Alt: I wish I could say that I had the foresight to see the success

of the genre-benders you mentioned and to try my own hand at it. I actually

started out writing what I read most often in my teen years and early 20s:

historical romance. I'm a real Anglophile and I love history, so it seemed

natural for me to focus in that area. And though I have also been a paranormal

buff since childhood, it never once occurred to me to try to write it into my

historical manuscripts. Weird, I know, but true.

 

The truth is, years and years of rejection were the real cause of my sudden

decision to try something new and completely different. I had had enough.

Enough of the rejections, however nicely worded, and enough of the requests

to see "something else." It's amazing how incredibly freeing giving up the ghost

can be. I decided that I might not be selling, but at least I could, by God, be

happy writing something just for myself. Something that didn't follow a guideline,

that wasn't written to market or genre rules -- and if it flaunted those rules,

so much the better.

 

That makes me sound like such a rebel…but all I really wanted was to feel the

joy in the creation process again.

 

And I did. The Trouble with Magic flowed from me, well, er, like magic. When it

was finished, I took a good look at it and thought, Huh. You know, that's not half

bad. Why not give it one last shot? By that time, I had found Kim Harrison's

wonderful Rachel Morgan series and Charlaine Harris's Dead series and recognized

that this book and my ideas for more could probably, possibly, with a teensy bit of

 luck, fit in with that same readership. The success these fine authors enjoyed gave

me hope, and that was so important to me after years of struggling.

 

PGA: What was the hardest thing about getting the first book published?

 

MA: If a writer isn't blessed with an agent, I would have to say the Great Agent Safari

 is probably going to be one of the hardest obstacles for a new author to overcome.

It's also absolutely necessary. With that out of the way, the next hurdle was finding

a publisher that wasn't put off by the cross-genre aspects of the series, one that had

 a clear vision of how to publish it well. Berkley has been wonderfully supportive.

 

PGA: Predictable question here, but how much are you and Maggie O'Neill alike?

Do you have the hots for Tom Selleck, too?

 

MA: How did I know you would ask that? Maggie and I are like sisters. I know her

every thought, her every doubt, her every worry. Her struggles. Her triumphs. I will

admit, there are some aspects of her that are very much like me, and then there

are elements of Maggie that belong to her alone. (I think she likes it that way.) And

as for Tom Selleck.... Well. A girl has to be allowed her secrets.

 

PGA: Did you consciously create Maggie as an Everywoman kind of heroine so that

any female reader -- and male, for that matter -- could identify with her? You know:

an average kind of character who is kind of stumbling through life but with a ton of

potential…

 

MA: This may sound a bit weird, but I'm not sure I had much of a hand in creating

Maggie at all. Maggie simply IS. She came to me fully formed in a kind of "stream of

consciousness" flow of words and images, completely out of the blue. Remember, at

the time I was writing straight historical romance told strictly from a third-person

point of view. What came to me, oh-so-compellingly, was three pages straight from

Maggie's point of view. Obviously not romance, obviously not historical, and obviously

first person. I'd never done any of that. I didn't even know if I could.

 

This might disappoint those who see authors as mystical, creative beings, wholly in

charge of the worlds they build and the people who inhabit them. I feel very fortunate

now, looking back, that Maggie is as normal and irreverent as she is -- she keeps things

fun and fresh for me.

 

That being said, I love the fact that Maggie is someone that I can relate to, and I love

hearing that she resonates with others as well.

 

 

PGA: The aspect of your Bewitching Mystery novels that I just love is the pure benevolence

of Maggie and her -- for lack of a better phrase -- healing energy. In the B&N review, I

compared these novels to Janet Evanovich in that they're really "feel-good" reads at heart;

I finish one of your books feeling better somehow about the world around me. Is that your

goal with these books -- a little healing escapism?

 

MA: First of all, thank you. I love Maggie's energy, too, as well as that of her friends.

They're good people -- a little quirky and off-the-beaten-track, but good. One concept that

was important to me to present was that goodness is not limited to one concept of spirituality,

that you will find both good and bad in all walks of life. This is shown on a smaller scale within

Stony Mill proper. For reasons that no one immediately understands, Stony Mill is simmering

with unrest, both physically and spiritually. Its people are suffering along with it, in fear and

in doubt and in despair, and they are acting out in response to those provocations…but there

are moments of light. Perhaps they are no more than pinpricks at times, but still they are there,

and while the world goes quietly mad around them, these rays of light bring a bit of sanity to

their situations. I think that's an important lesson -- that if someone is looking for light, they

will find it. It's there. They might have to look a little harder to find it, but it's there.

 

So, for me, Maggie is a part of the light. She is a reminder of the core goodness of humanity,

even as they plot their way through the unseen reaches of the spirit world that most people

tend to fear.

 

PGA: You share a blog with some other female paranormal fiction writers, aptly called the

Witchy Chicks. How has the popularity of the blog affected your readership?

 

MA: The fun thing about the Witchy Chicks is the sense of camaraderie we all share, the

encouragement and support we give each other. Our blog is a "feel good" place. I love that.

Our readers come to us knowing what they can expect: a bunch of really cool chicks talking

about subjects that interest them, sometimes paranormal and sometimes not. They also

have the opportunity to make their own comments in response to our posts, and as a result

we often have a sort of dialogue going on back and forth between authors and readers that

we all enjoy. We have readers who speak up on a regular basis, and we have many who

lurk along, ever so quietly. It's all good.

 

PGA: What’s next on the Madelyn Alt “to write” list?  Are you going to continue with the

Bewitching Mystery novels or have you thought about writing something new?

 

MA:  Right now, I would have to say the Bewitching series is my number one priority, as

I just accepted a deal for books four through six with Berkley Prime Crime and have ideas

For so many more.  But who knows? A writer always has ideas knocking around in her head,

clamoring for attention. Thank goodness!  I wouldn’t know how to cope if I didn’t.

 

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Author Endorsements:

“No wonder this Bewitching Mystery Series has turned Madelyn Alt into

a National Bestselling Author.  It's quirky, enchanting, mystical and

addictive . . . not to be missed." ~~ Annette Blair, Nat’l Bestselling Author

of the Triplet Witch series

“ Madelyn Alt has crafted a tale of bewitching good mystery with a healthy

dose of hometown goodness.  If you long for a place where magic and

Mayberry come together, sit a "spell" with No Rest For The Wiccan!”

~~Victoria Laurie, author of Death Perception